NORW UMPQUA WII), AND SCENIC RIVER Environmental Assessment AWildUtJdMenicrivaenvirrmrnentcrlarceJstnantdevebpedjoinCIyby:. U. S. DEPT OF AGRlCUIXURE U.S. DEPT. ;Eu Ib$‘EIXIO; FOREST SERVICE Pa&k Northwest Region gg @ TqjT Umpqua National Forest OREGON STATE PARKS Q RECREATION DEPARTMENT JULY 1992 Environmental Assessment North Umpqua Wild and Scenic River Table ofContents CHAPTER I Purpoee and Need for Action.. ............................................................................... 1 Purpcee and Need/Proposed Action .............................................................................................I Background...................................................................................................................................... .1 Management Goal ...........................................................................................................................2 Scoping ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Outstandingly Remarkable Values ................................................................................................5 l.ssues................................................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER II Affected Envlronment .............................................................................................7 Setting............................................................................................................................................... .7 Climate/Geology ..............................................................................................................................7 Hydrology.. ........................................................................................................................................a Fish ................................................................................................................................................16 Wildlife.............................................................................................................................................26 Vegetation ....................................................................................................................................29 Timber............................................................................................................................................. 30 Guttural ..........................................................................................................................................32 Recreation ....................................................................................................................................34 Scenery ..........................................................................................................................................45 Land Ownership and Uses ......................................................................................................... 46 Access Within the Corridor ......................................................................................................... 49 Minerals ..........................................................................................................................................50 Energy and Utilization ..................................................................................................................50 Fire ................................................................................................................................................ 51 Congressional Designations......................................................................................................... 51 Tribal Considerations .................................................................................................................. 51 CHAPTER Ill Alternatives ............................................................................................................ 53 Overview of the Alternatives......................................................................................................... 53 Elements Common to All Aiternatives ....................................................................................... 53 Description ot the Alternatives .................................................................................. ................. 56 Boundary Process ........................................................................................................................66 Project Proposals...........................................................................................................................70 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Further Conslderation .................................... 74 CHAPTER Iv Environmental Conaaquenoas ........................................................................... 75 water ............................................................................................................................................. 75 Fish ................................................................................................................................................ 77 Cultural .......................................................................................................................................... 64 Recreation ....................................................................................................................................85 Scenery ..........................................................................................................................................86 Vegetation .................................................................................................................................... 67 Wildlife/Plants ................................................................................................................................. 67 6ocbEconomic ........................................................................................................................... 67 Boundary ....................................................................................................................................... 69 Prhrate Landowners ..................................................................................................................... 69 APPENDIX A Dbxaalon of Oubtendlngly Remarkable Reeouroe Valuw ........................ 91 .~_ APPENDIX B Site Speclflc ProJecl Propoeab ........................................................................1Oi _ APPENDIX C Glaeealy.. ...............................................................................................................113. APPENDIX D Llel of Preparen ..................................................................................................127. APPENDIX E Referencea ...........................................................................................................129. APPENDIX F Comutetlon end Aeeletanw from Others ......................................................133 -, .- - CHAPTER I Purpose and Need for Action _-:, Purpose and The proposed action ls the development ofa comprehensive rivermanagement NeedlProposed plan for the North Umpqua River as the result of Congressional designation Action via the Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic RhrersAct of 1955. The decisions _. to be made include: � Methods to protect and enhance outstandingly remarkable dyer-related values. ,- � Determination of the boundary. Planning for National Forests and SLM lands has two levels. The first level of planning, the programmaticlevel, is ths Forest Plan and Resource Management Plan. This level provides area-wide analysis and management standards and guidelines. This rker management piannlng process fails within this catagory. r. The second level of planning is s5e-specifk project planning. Projectsidentified in this river planning process must go through this level of NEPA analysis before implementation. *. The results of this process will require an amendment to the Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. Background Recognizing the need to protect outstanding free4kwing rivers, Congress passed the Wild and Scenic RhrersAct in I93B. To complement the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers AU, the State of Oregon passed the Oregon Scenic - Waterways AU in 19B9 to preserve free4iowfng rkers and their associated sign5icant resource vafues and to prctect the property rights of adjacent landowners. in 1978, the US Forest Service adopted their decadal Land Use Plan (LMP) which spec5ied that the North Umpqua Rhrerwould be managed as a Wild and Scenic River even though it had not yet been designated. In 1993, the __ BLM adopted their Resource Management Plan (RMP) and took the same actkn. In 19513,the State of Oregon conducted an evaiuatkn of the scenic waterway potentiai of the North Umpqua River from slackwater at Wkchester Dam to Soda Spdngs Dam. The evaiuatkn process sewed to eliminate river segments that did not fulfill, in an outstanding manner, the scenk waterway criteria as depicted by the Oregon Scenk Waterways Act. The study concluded that a 33.5-rniie segment of the North Umpqua Rfver, from Rock Creek to Soda Springs Powerhouse, met the qua5fkatkns for State scenic waterway designation as outlined by ORS 399.855. The segment was recommended - for inclusion in the Oregon Scenic Waterway system because it possessed 1 r - Chapter I _~ outstanding